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Are the Germans 

the 

Chosen People 

9 



ADDRESS 

Delivered at the Business Men's Club, Cincinnati 
January 28th, 1918 



BY 



RABBI DAVID PHILIPSON 



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FOREWORD 



After I had heard the address by Dr. 
Philipson at the Business Men's Club I felt 
that the message should reach a wider circle 
than was comprised in the company present. 
It seemed to me that the climax of the ad- 
dress in which the speaker )yointed out the 
results of militarism and showed forth the 
high purpose of America in entering the 
war must appeal to all Americans and 
freedom lovers. For these reasons I asked 
the privilege of having the address printed 
for wide distribution. Additional copies can 
be secured by addressing the undersigned. 

MAURICE JOSEPH. 



1242 Harrison Avenue 
Cincinnati, Ohio 

February 12, 1918 



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Are the Germans the Chosen People? 



The statement has been made frequently of late years that 
the modern Germans in their claim that they are God's chosen 
people are the latter day counterpart of the ancient Jews, who 
are thus termed in the Bible. Preachers and writers in Germany 
make the direct comparison in unmistakable terms as when one 
of these preachers declares unreservedly: "As was Israel among 
the heathen, so is Germany amongst the nations, the pious heart 
of Europe," and another asserts no less apodictically : "In a 
moment we, the children of modern humanity, have become the 
heir of Israel, the people of the Old Testament. We shall be 
the bearers of God's promises, the living proof that it is not man 
who creates history, but God through man." The conviction that 
they are the chosen people of these latter ages has become a 
leading article of German belief ; it has imbued the German peo- 
ple with a feeling of superiority over all other nations ; they have 
become obsessed with the idea that they are God's favorites ; they 
speak of God as the German God, implying thereby that other 
peoples are without the pale of His special concern. 

It is, however, not only Germans who have instituted the 
comparison between themselves and ancient Israel in this matter 
of being God's chosen people, but leading speakers and thinkers 
in other lands, when discussing the state of the modern German 
mind, are fond of adducing the same comparison. It was only 
recently that I heard a distinguished American professor say 
this emphatically and without modification. As I listened to his 
words the thought presented itself forcibly to my mind that this 
frequently reiterated statement could and should be subjected to 
careful examination. For I felt that this comparison was super- 
ficial and far from the truth inasmuch as the term "chosen peo- 
ple" received an entirely different interpretation by the leading 
spirits of ancient Israel, namely the prophets, from that given it 
by the spokesmen of modern Germany as revealed in the writings 
and utterances of the foremost framers of opinion in that realm 
in recent days. 

Before addressing myself, however, to the special theme under 
consideration, attention must be called to the fact that the "chosen 
people" idea was widespread in ancient days. The Jews were 
not alone in considering themselves the favorites of their God. 
Many, if not all, nations of antiquity looked upon themselves 
in the same light. Thus the neighboring peoples of ancient Israel, 
Moab and Ammon, considered themselves respectively the chosen 



of their deities, Chemosh on the one hand and Milcom on the 
other ; the Babylonians held the belief that they were the chosen 
favorites of Marduk, the chief god in their pantheon; and so 
with other peoples. Each of these nations considered itself the 
favorite of its national deity who, according to the popular belief, 
fought on its side in war, discomfited its enemies, showered it 
with favors and distinguished it by the grant of unusual privi- 
leges, to the disadvantage of other peoples. There can be no 
doubt that in early days the Jews shared in this interpretation 
of what it signified to be God's chosen people. But with the 
passing of time a different meaning was read into the conception 
by those soaring spirits, the prophets of Israel, and this inter- 
pretation of the idea became paramount in the course of the 
development of Judaism during the centuries. According to this 
new valuation of the term, Israel was chosen not for favors, 
but for service. The great prophet of the sixth pre-Christian 
century, known as Isaiah of Babylon, defined the people of Israel 
by the significant term, ''Servant of the Lord." This prophet 
brings out this thought in a number of famous passages of which 
I need quote only one. Says the prophet in the name of God, 
"Behold My servant whom I uphold. Mine elect in whom My 
soul delighteth. I have put My spirit upon him, he shall make 
the right go forth among the nations. ... I the Lord have called 
thee in righteousness . . . and set thee for a covenant of the 
people, for a light of the nations, to open the blind eyes, to bring 
out the prisoners from the dungeon and them that sit in darkness 
from the prison house." (Isaiah XLH : 1, 6 and 7.) In this 
striking passage, as well as in others that might be quoted, the 
choice is interpreted in terms of service. Israel, the servant of 
the Lord and upon whom rested the spirit of the Lord, was 
chosen for responsibilities, not for privileges ; was called in right- 
eousness, that is to promulgate the doctrine of the might of right, 
or as it was put by a brother prophet, "Not by might and not 
by strength, but by My spirit, saith the Lord of Hosts." And 
in this light has the conception of the chosen people been taken 
by the leaders of the synagogue ever since. In the prayers God 
is thanked for having chosen Israel and for having called him 
to God's service that through Israel, sanctified by observing God's 
commandments. His holy name might be known in all the earth. 
I believe I may state without fear of contradiction that this sig- 
nificance first attached to the "chosen people" idea by the prophet 
twenty-six hundred years ago, as applied to Israel, is now gen- 
erally accepted by authoritative thinkers among Jews. 

How different the interpretation given the term by the molders 
of opinion in modern Germany ! There is the widest gap between 
the interpretation in terms of service by the prophets of ancient 



Israel and the interpretation in terms of power and favoritism 
by the prophets of modern Germany. We find in this latter a 
reversion to the old idea of the deity choosing a people for 
favors, of the deity fighting on the side of the chosen, of the 
deity giving victory to the arms of the chosen. What is the 
Nietzschean doctrine of the superman but this belief carried to 
the nth degree? What are the paeans sung by Houston Stewart 
Chamberlain and his like on the supremacy of the blond Teutonic 
race in all things but a variation of this same belief? What is 
the boastful claim for the superiority of German Kultur but a 
harping on the same string? Here is the bald and frequently 
brutal assertion of the right of might, the motto of the warrior 
nations of all times, not the teaching of the might of right, the 
doctrine of the prophets of Israel, the founder of Christianity 
and all the highest spirits of humanity. 

Lest it appear that these statements are made ex parte, I will 
let loudly acclaimed modern German leaders and prophets speak 
for themselves. So general and frequent are the boastful asser- 
tions of German superiority to all others that it has been found 
possible to compile whole volumes of excerpts from the writings 
and speeches of German philosophers, preachers, poets, authors 
and men of affairs. Within the past year or two such volumes 
have appeared under titles like ''Hallelujah and Hurrah!" "Out 
of Their Own Mouths," "Speaking of Prussians," "Made in 
Germany," "Gems of German Thought" and "Kultur and Con- 
quest." For the sake of illustrating my special theme, namely, 
the setting forth of the contrast between the prophetic Jewish 
conception of service as the obligation of the chosen people and 
the modern German conception of force, I will select a few out 
of the many striking expressions wherewith the writings of 
Treitzschke, Bernhardi, Chamberlain, Nietzsche, Tannenberg, 
Lasson, Sombert, et hoc genus omne teem. 

The first time that the term chosen people is applied to Israel 
in the Bible is in the nineteenth chapter of the book of Exodus, 
introductory to the giving of the Ten Commandments, humanity's 
magna charta of morality. We there read, "If ye will hearken 
to My voice indeed and keep My covenant, then ye shall be 
Mine own treasure from among all peoples, and ye shall be to 
Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation." (Exodus XIX :5.) 
In other words, they would be a chosen people if they would 
keep God's covenant, the Ten Commandments, the great charter 
which was entrusted to them. Modern Germany's prophet has 
given us a new version of the Commandments that offers a re- 
markable contrast to this conception. In the book which is 
generally considered as containing 'the ripest flowering of his 
thought, "Thus Spake Zarathustra," Nietzsche has a chapter 



entitled ''Old and New Tables." The old tables are to be dis- 
carded, the new, containing his reading of the moral life, are to 
take their place. Hear some of this new doctrine. 

"Do you say it is a good cause by which a war is hallowed? I say 
unto you, it is a good war which hallows every cause. War and courage 
have done greater things than the love of one's neighbor. ... Be not con- 
siderate of thy neighbor. What thou doest can no one do to thee again, 
Lo, there is no requital. . . . 'Thou shalt not steal !' *Thou shalt not 
kill !' Such precepts were once called holy. Is there not even in all life 
stealing and killing? And for such precepts to be called holy, was not 
truth itself slain thereby? . . . This new table, O my brethren, put I up 
over you, 'Become hard !' " 

Here modern Germany's prophet, the creator of the concep- 
tion of the superman, out of which has grown the thought of 
the Germans as the super people, gives a new reading not only 
to the Commandments, but also to that consummate expression 
of Jesus' teaching, the Golden Rule. Jesus said, "Do unto others 
as you would have them do to you ;" Zarathustra Nietzsche says, 
"Be not considerate of thy neighbor. What thou doest can no 
one do to thee again. Lo, there is no requital." And for the 
old tables containing such commands as "Thou shalt not kill !" 
"Thou shalt not steal !" he substitutes his new table, "Become 
hard !" For him and for his disciples, the Ten Commandments 
and the Golden Rule are outgrown. They were for slaves. One 
of Nietzsche's favorite terms is "Slave morality," as applied to 
the moral teachings of Judaism and Christianity. Truly a vast 
contrast ! According to the older prophets, the observance of 
the Commandments and the implied service to humanity was 
the prime condition towards becoming the chosen people! Ac- 
cording to the newer prophet pf Germany, this observance made 
slaves, not a chosen people ! For the latter the new command- 
ment, "Become hard," expresses the latest revelation. Fully 
indeed has this new reading of the commandments been accepted 
by the military masters of Germany who are directing the des- 
tinies of this people and whose diabolical course has brought 
upon the world the greatest disaster of all the ages through the 
unspeakable deeds of the German soldiery in the lands which 
they have overrun ! That Nietzsche's teaching has not been per- 
mitted to remain mere theory, but has been there translated into 
inhuman practices, is clearly apparent. How completely this 
revelation given through Nietzsche has become the rule of action 
of the military party appears from a soldier's rendering of that 
teaching. Even more brutally, if that were possible, General 
Von der Goltz expresses this new rendering of the command- 
ments, when in his "Ten Commandments of the German Soldier" 
he says : 

"War is not a work of charity and in the soldier's heart there is no 
compassion. The soldier must be hard. It is better to let a hundred 

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women and children belonging to the enemy die of hunger than to let a 
single German soldier suflfer." 

Truly a worthy disciple of the prophet ! The soldier ! The 
soldier ! he is supreme. One hundred women and children are 
of no account as comparison with him. Humanity is thrown 
to the winds. 

It is also interesting to note that the prophet who has exerted 
such a tremendous influence in shaping the thought of modern 
Germany and in producing the modern German state of mind 
has placed a new valuation not only on the Ten Commandments, 
the supreme teaching of the Old Testament, but also upon the 
Sermon on the Mount, the outstanding teaching of the New 
Testament. Hear this new interpretation of one of the famous 
beatitudes : 

"We have heard it said, Blessed are the peace-makers, but I say unto 
you, Blessed are the war-makers, for they shall be called, if not the chil- 
dren of Jahveh, then the children of Odin, who is greater than Jahveh." 

Once again might against right, force against love, war against 
peace ! 

Nietzsche has many disciples besides the general just named, 
who repeated in almost identical words the new commandment 
for the direction of life, "Become hard." Militarism is the Ger- 
man cult. It is the practical outcome of the notion of the teach- 
ing of the will to power and the conquering might of force so 
constantly urged by Nietsche. All these things hang together. 
The might of their militarism is the proof to the Germans that 
they are the chosen people. They will impose their will upon 
all weaker peoples. They will take what they want. Nothing 
which stands in the way of the accomplishment of desire must 
be taken into consideration. Treaties are only scraps of paper. 
Small nations have no rights which must be respected. ''Might 
is the supreme right and the dispute as to what is right is decided 
by the arbitrament of war," declares Bernhardi. If Belgium 
obstructs the path, it is Germany's right to invade and steal 
Belgium, to sack Belgian cities, destroy Belgian seats of learn- 
ing, burn, outrage, plunder, kill; the right of the strong is the 
last word; hear it again, ''Might is the supreme right." This, 
the slogan of the latter day chosen people, as "right is the supreme 
might," was the watchword of the ancient prophet, for Bern- 
hardi has learned well the lessons of Germany's acclaimed his- 
torian, Heinrich von Treitzschke, the interpreter of the blood 
and iron theory of history; one of Treitzschke's leading theses 
is expressed in the phrase, "The small nations have no right of 
existence and ought to be swallowed up." Carrying out this 
instruction of the interpreter of history a la German militarism, 
Bernhardi declares flatly: "The Germans must, regardless of 
the rights and interests of other peoples, fight their way to pre- 



dominance and force upon humanity German Kultur and spirit." 
But I hear it said by apologists that these expressions of Von 
der Gohz, Bernhardi, and their kind, horrible as they are, 
are to be expected from soldiers and militarists. Their training 
has distorted their point of view. War is their business and 
they look at all things through that glass. 

Little as such an apology avails to excuse the inhuman, brutal 
and savage expressions of military writers and still more savage 
deeds of military commanders, still even it loses all force when 
it becomes clear that men in civil life, men occupying high posts 
in the professional world, even professors in universities, 
preachers in churches, authors in literary circles, give voice to 
similar sentiments. These well nigh incredible things explain the 
state of mind of the German people. Their professors, their 
preachers, their writers are teaching, preaching and expounding 
the same doctrines as the militarists, the doctrine that the Ger- 
mans are the chosen people, the doctrine of the right of might, 
the doctrine of German superiority to all the world. These germs 
have inoculated the German people, they have learned well the 
lesson dinned into them for the past thirty years and more in 
school and church. It is all a part of the system. Teachers and 
professors are dependents of the military state and uphold its 
doctrines. Preachers are the appointees of the state for the 
church is a state church. This explains such strange phenomena 
which startled the world as the declaration issued by ninety-three 
professors shortly after the beginning of the war in 1914, some 
of them among the most famed not only in Germany, but in the 
world, like Harnack, Eucken, Deissmann and others equally dis- 
tinguished, in which declaration these men defended and vindi- 
cated the course of Germany, and that other document of June 
30, 1915, touching the status of Belgium, signed by over a thou- 
sand professors, clergymen, judges, writers, etc., in which it is 
stated, "We must keep Belgium firmly in our hands as regards 
political and military matters and as regards economic interests. 
In no matter is the German nation more united in its opinion ; 
to it the retention of Belgium is an indubitable matter of honor." 
Such perversion of the right seems scarcely credible. Stolen, 
outraged Belgium must be retained ! That perversion is the 
direct result of the training the German people had received from 
its teachers, professors, preachers, writers and journalists under 
the direction and guidance of its military /masters. How direct, 
how unequivocal that teaching was shall now appear from a few 
examples selected from a great number that might be adduced. 

Let a professor speak. Werner Sombart has come to be 
well known in this country through his books on the history of 
commerce and other economic works ; his writings have had a 

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great vogue in his native land. He gave utterance in 1915 to 
the simon pure behef of the German people in its destiny as 
the chosen people in these modest terms : 

"As the emblem of the Germans, the eagle soars high above all the . 
birds of the world, so the German should feel himself raised above all 
the peoples who surround him and whom he sees at an immeasurable depth 
below him. Here also it is true that nobility implies obligations. The 
idea that we are the chosen people imposes upon us very great duties — 
and only duties. Above all things we must maintain ourselves as a strong 
nation. We are determined to be and to remain a strong German nation 
and a strong German state and ... if it is necessary to extend our ter- 
ritorial possessions so that the increasing body of the nation shall have 
room to develop itself, we will take for ourselves as much territory as 
seems to us necessary. We shall also set our foot wherever it seems to 
us important for strategic reasons in order to preserve our unassailable 
strength. That is all !" 

That is all ! Take it or leave it ! These words explain the 
actions of the bully among nations ! We will seize by our strong 
right arm what we need ! Here is the new meaning of the chosen 
people a la Teutonic militarism. Not one word of service as 
the obligation of the chosen people. Said the ancient Jewish 
prophet of Israel's duty as the elect of God : "He shall make 
the right go forth according to the truth ;" declares the modern 
German professor as the supreme duty imposed upon the Ger- 
mans as the chosen people, ''Above all things in the world, we 
must maintain ourselves as a strong nation. We are determined 
to be and remain a strong German nation and a strong German 
state." Look on this picture and on that ! 

Let the professor speak again, and this time the eminent 
Biblical scholar whom in the pre-bellum days students every- 
where looked up to as speaking with authority in his chosen 
field, Adolf Deissmann. In an address on War and Religion, 
this great scholar, who as the apologist for the scandalous acts 
of the militaristic regime, has shamed his former reputation, used 
these astounding words : 

"The French Ambassador in London is understood to have said at a 
banquet that so-called scholars and professors have preached the religion 
of barbarism. His words — I venture that paradox — pretty nearly express 
my thought. What people beyond the channel call barbarism history will 
some day call primitive strength. In this age which has witnessed the 
most gigantic mobilization of physical and mental forces which the world 
has ever seen, we certainly proclaim — no, it is not we who proclaim it, 
but it reveals itself — the religion of power." 

We rub our eyes. Have w^e read correctly? Is it possible 
that a cultured man of the twentieth century has pronounced 
such words? This unashamed defense of a shameful position 
is inexpressibly painful. To such a depth hast thou caused a 
great mind to fall, O German militarism ! This is German Kul- 
tur! Yes, we proudly say it, there is a vast gulf between what 
we call culture and what the German professor dubs Kultur ! 

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What the French Ambassador whom Deissmann quotes refers 
to is the above mentioned declaration signed by the ninety-three 
leading professors and scholars, of whom Deissmann was one. 
Far from repudiating this historic document whereof some day 
when Germany will come to her senses she will be heartily 
ashamed, this professor glorifies it. He glories in the shame! 
Degradation cannot go much further ! He speaks of the mobili- 
zation of physical and mental forces, but he significantly omits 
mention of the spiritual forces. Yes, Germany is physically and 
intellectually powerful, but spiritually, oh, how weak ! Once 
more let me contrast the modern German professor in his defi- 
nition of the religion of his people as the chosen people with the 
ancient prophet. Says the modern German professor, *'We cer- 
tainly proclaim the religion of power;" says the ancient Jewish 
prophet in his further definition of Israel as the servant of the 
Lord, "A bruised reed he will not break and a dimly burning wick 
he will not quench," and in the same spirit that other great 
prophet of Jewish birth and training, the founder of Christianity, 
declared, "Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth." 

Now that the professors have been heard through their rep- 
resentatives, I would call to the witness chair a representative of 
writers whose books have gained great popularity. In a recent 
article entitled ''Economic Imperialism," in the Century Maga- 
zine for July, 1917, David Jayne Hill, our former Ambassador 
to Germany, refers to the widespread vogue of a book by Otto 
Richard Von Tannenberg. The book is named ''Grossdeutsch- 
land" and appeared in 1911 ; thousands upon thousands of copies 
were sold. This popular author throws further light upon the 
subject we are considering when he speaks thus of Germany's 
mission : 

"A policy of sentiment is folly. Enthusiasm for humanity is idiocy. 
Charity should begin among one's compatriots. Politics is business. 
Right and wrong are notions needed in civil life only. The German people 
is always right, because it is the- German people, and because it numbers 
87,000,000. Our fathers have left us much to do!" And again: "The 
period of preparation lasted for a long time (1871-1911) — forty years of 
toil on land and sea, the end constantly in view. The need now is to 
begin the battle, to vanquish and to conquer ; to gain new territories ; lands 
for colonization for the German peasants, _ fathers of future warriors 
and for the future conquests. . . . 'Peace' is a detestable word; peace 
between Germans and Slavs is like a treaty made on paper, between water 
and fire. . . . Since we have the force, we have not to seek reasons." 

If anything, these statements are even more direct and un- 
abashed than the words of the professors. No equivocation here ! 
What arrogance! "The German people is always right, because 
it is the German people !" What knock-down arguments ! "Since 
we have the force, we have not to seek reasons !" Always force ! 
always power! Who can doubt that in his brutal frankness 

12 



this writer expresses the true inwardness of the modern German 
militaristic mind. For German mihtarism, peace is a detestable 
^yord, unless it be a German peace; the forty years of prepara- 
tion had as their purpose the exploitation of the weak, the con- 
quest of the unprepared, the rape of neighboring lands. The 
voice of the war guns thundered at unsuspecting Liege and 
Namur; the tramp, tramp of the grey German hosts resounded 
on Belgian roads and in Belgian streets; they struck quickly, 
they struck violently, because they had the power. Contrast once 
more the clash of warfare which German militarism let loose 
in 1914 and which has made the European war zone a hell on 
earth ever since, with the ancient prophet's characterization of 
Israel as the chosen people : "He shall not cry, nor lift up nor 
cause his voice to be heard in the streets." The war cry, the 
battle din marks the chosen according to the apostle of force, 
the quiet ministrations of the gentle servant of the Lord is the 
prophet's delineation. 

This list of witnesses would not be complete unless we heard 
from those who have a particular right to speak when the topic 
is one which has always had a religious connotation. From ear- 
liest times the thought of the chosen people has been connected 
with the Deity. The choice is made by God. Therefore it is 
necessary to let be heard the interpreters of religion as made in 
modern Germany. These preachers are the mouthpieces of the 
state church. They uphold the state in all its enterprises. That 
they believe what they preach I have not the least doubt. That 
their congregations also believe it there can be no question. This 
too largely contributes to what I termed above the German state 
of mind. This German state of mind is the most serious feature 
of the whole terrible situation. This is what the Allies are really 
fighting against. Until this state of mind is changed, German 
militarism will remain intrenched. Every agency has been em- 
ployed by the war lords who occupy Germany's seats of the 
mighty to produce this state of mind and admirably have they 
succeeded, for they have enhsted as their missionaries not only 
the school and the press, but also the church. In a war sermon 
delivered in 1915, the Rev. Walter Lehmann asked his hearers: 

"Am I exaggerating when I say that we feel at the present time, when 
lying, passion, selfishness prevail around us, that we are actually the 
people God has chosen for his heirs, feel ourselves in this fight, if not 
the chosen people — yet, in all humility — the instrument of God? This 
the secret strong well-spring of the national movement is a kind of 
German piety. The German God has become living." And expatiating 
further on this idea of the German God, he says in another place : 
"We have God on our side. Can the Russians, the French, the Serbians, 
the Eno-lish say this? No, not one of them. Only we Germans can say it. 
If God'' is for us, who can be against us? It is enough for us to be a 
part of God. ... A nation which is God's seed corn for the future. . . . 

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Germany is the center of God's plan for the world. . . . God and Germany 
belong to each other." 

As one reads these and similar utterances by German preach- 
ers, one must fain ask himself, has the world gone backward 
thousands of years? Hebrew prophets, Christian apostles, men 
of light and leading among all nations in all parts of the world 
have taught for centuries that God is the Father of all mankind. 
Here all this is thrown overboard, the crudest nationalistic doc- 
trine about God is preached. A German God, what a limitation 
of the Lord of all the universe! True, in ancient Israel, God 
was first regarded as the God of Israel only, but that was thou- 
sands of years ago ; later in Israel the prophets arose, who con- 
ceived God as the God of all the earth, the Father of all men. 
Such, too, was the teaching of the founder of Christianity, and 
such surely has been the preachment in all places in this western 
world for many years. And now this reversion in Germany. 
The German God ! Not the God of all the nations. 

But Lehmann stands not alone in his frenzied exaltation of 
the German people as the chosen people and as the especial fa- 
vorites of the German God. A brother preacher, creature also 
of the state church, bound to uphold the militaristic system and 
policy, the Rev. J. Rump, waxes enthusiastic on the subject of 
German glory in this strain: "It has long been an honor and 
a joy, a source of renown to be a German — the year 1914 has 
made it a title of nobility. What Geibel once prophesied in the 
distich* so often quoted, now can and shall and must at last 
become a reality in the life of nations that by the German nature, 
that nature blessed by the grace and hallowed by the spirit of 
God, shall the whole world be healed." And this after the rape 
of Belgium ! This after the indescribable outrages in France ! 
What word but blasphemy can fitly describe such an utterance 
from a spot called holy ? And what shall be said of the outburst 
of Pastor D. Baumgarten, another of these preacher panegyrists 
of the murderers of the innocent, the militarists of Germany, a 
man who debased the pulpit by singing the praises of the assas- 
sins of the deep in these startling words : 

"Any one who cannot bring himself to approve from the bottom of 
his heart the sinking of the Lusitania . . . and give himself up to honest 
joy at this victorious exploit of German defensive power — such a one 
we deem no true German." 

But enough ! enough ! To depths of infamy indeed has a 
church sunk, accredited representatives of which can thus glorify 
murder. Such an utterance, coupled with the official govern- 
mental act of striking Lusitania medals, are to us indeed incom- 
prehensible. To this pass has militarism brought this people. 



*Und es mag am deutschem Wesen, Einmal noch die Welt genesen. 

14 



Madness possesses these Germans. Or else they would not dare 
pride themselves on being the chosen people. Chosen people! 
Nay, nay. In spite of all their achievements in science, industry, 
manufacture, mental research and intellectual investigation, they 
are barbarians. Their greatest man, Goethe, had a truer insight 
into the German nature than have the ecclesiastical and profes- 
sorial panegyrists whose words we have heard. Well nigh one 
hundred years ago Goethe, in one of his conversations with 
Eckerman, said : 

"The Germans are of yesterday. No doubt in the last one hundred 
years we have been cultivating ourselves quite diligently, but it may take 
a few centuries yet before our countrymen have absorbed sufficient intel- 
lect and higher culture for it to be said of them that it is a long time 
since they were barbarians." 

It is almost a century since Goethe thus expressed himself ; he 
claimed that a few centuries would have to pass before the 
Germans would have definitely left barbarism behind them. They 
have not yet done so. Scratch the German militarist and you 
find the barbarian. A chosen people ! No, no ; rather a bar- 
barous people ! Goethe, we thank thee for that correct diagnosis. 

And now just one testimonial more. The all-highest, the 
supreme war lord, the head and front of the offending which 
has plunged a world into deepest woe, even the Kaiser, who in 
view of the horrors which have resulted from his act in precipi- 
tating the war, has been well termed the greatest criminal of 
the ages, gave classical expression to the doctrine we have been 
considering, when in his proclamation to the army of the east 
in 1914 he adjured his warriors thus: 

"Remember that you are the chosen people! The spirit of the Lord 
has descended upon me because I am the Emperor of the Germans. I 
am the instrument of the Almighty. I am his sword, I am his agent. 
War and death to all those who shall oppose my will. War and death 
to those who oppose my mission ; Let them perish, all the enemies of the 
German people. God demands their destruction, God who by my mouth 
bids you to do his will!" 

And this in the twentieth Christian century ! We shudder 
at this blasphemy ! It is doubtful whether any more frightful 
word fell from the lips of even the most barbarous monarchs 
of the twentieth pre-Christian century. And this man believes 
himself to be the divinely appointed ruler of the German people, 
and the German people assents ! Such is his conception of the 
chosen people ! Such the conception of all his myrmidons in 
the army, the university, the church, the public prints ! No w^ord 
here of service for humanity — only German expansion, German 
exaltation, German glory ! Power, power, power ! Might, might, 
might ! 

This is the kernel of the situation with which the world is 
confronted. As long as a nation believes as does the German 

15 



people that it was chosen to impose its will upon the world and 
to become the world's master by force, so long is the world in 
danger. To combat this danger, America' entered the war. The 
President of the United States in one of his remarkable addresses 
to Congress stigmatized this German militarism by the term 
"Thing," as though it were a monster incapable of other desig- 
nation. And such indeed it is. He declared that this thing must 
'be removed from the face of the earth. To help to so remove 
it is America's purpose. To my mind the day on which America 
allied herself with the nations of Europe who are fighting for 
the world's freedom ranks with that most glorious moment when 
the embattled farmers of New England fired the shot heard 'round 
the world. America is fighting not for her own glory^ but for 
an ideal ; not for territory nor indemnity, but to make the world 
safe for democracy and democracy safe for the world. Proud 
are we of our country, not because we are the greatest of the 
world's republics, not because of our wide territory or our un- 
exampled prosperity, not because of our tremendous riches or 
our mighty possibilities, not because of our mines and our mills, 
our factories and our shops, but proud are we because our coun- 
try has again found her soul, because in this extremest crisis 
that the cause of the world's freedom has ever known, in this 
dark hour when the mailed fist of militarism is casting its dire 
shadow over a greater extent of Europe's surface than this gen- 
eration has ever known, she has stepped into the breach and 
has answered the call that through all the ages has come to the 
truly chosen. I have the firm conviction that just as in the 
prophet's vision Israel of old was chosen and called for service, 
so in this latest age of the world's history this nation has been 
called for service, this nation has been chosen. I hear the words 
of the Lord speaking to America through the prophet even as 
He spake to ancient Israel : "I the Lord have called thee in right- 
eousness and have taken hold of thy hand and kept thee and set 
thee for a covenant of the peoples, for a light of the nations; 
to open the blind eyes, to bring out the prisoners from the dun- 
geon and those that sit in darkness out of the prison house." 



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